


Dark Water

by Pseudonymous_Entity



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Other, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 08:52:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16615823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pseudonymous_Entity/pseuds/Pseudonymous_Entity
Summary: When Harry and Ron steal the flying car things go horribly wrong. Harry Potter is nearly killed, and ends up lost and alone in the Forbidden Forest. When he emerges it is with a greater respect for magic, and for his life. But this year? He isn't the only one making a comeback...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become.
> 
> No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell.
> 
> There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side.
> 
> Or you don't." ― Stephen King

It happened quickly. Or seemed to.

One minute he is flying through the air with Ron and the sky is darkening, but they can see the light of the castle, and they're smiling at one another. So certain they'd gotten away with it. It smells of old leather and Mr Weasley's cologne inside the car, along with some sweat which mostly likely came about from the two of them when the car had tipped precariously over the Hogwarts Express a few hours earlier. Ron unlocked his seat belt and made a show of stretching, like he'd done some serious physical work. Really, all they'd done was managed not to kill themselves -or anyone else- while flying a stolen car. Terrible, but still really cool.

It was a moment of childish relief and excitement.

"Alright, now we slow her down and aim for grass. We'll just coast along until we stop on the grounds. It's pretty dark now I don't they'll see us." Ron said confidently.

He pushed down on the brake, and when he was satisfied he stepped off the pedals and let go of the wheel. Trusting his own proclamation

Ron turned around and leaned over the seat until more of him was up in the air then on the ground. His fingers stretched out, trailing along the back of the car until he found some unseen thing. The tips of his fingers disappeared into the fabric and then came out. It was latched Harry realized. Ron pulled and a flap of some kind came down to reveal the end of the car. Grinning, Ron shoved himself forward a bit more to grab hold of the handle to his trunk.

Then, there was a lurch. Harry felt suspended in air even as his seat belt dug into him and the car jerked into reverse. Ron came flying backward over the seat, the steering wheel and smacked into the windshield.

A faint tinkling etched itself faintly in the air, causing the hair of Harry's neck to stand on end. "Ron?"

"I'm alright…" The car jerked again and this time it tilted vertically into the air and continued instead of suddenly stopping.

Ron's trunk came barreling forward in response, Harry's was caught at an angle and rocking ominously. Ron cursed and shut his eyes. The trunk came to a halt with the seat pushed half over on itself. Harry thought some of it must be torn. Broken.

"What's happening?" Harry asked. His chest still ached from the sudden lurch and his head was spinning from the backward spiral they were in.

Ron squinted an eye open. "Must be the willow."

"Willow?" A freaking tree was doing this?

The unseen forces playing with their car like a toy swooped them down and then up in a jagged loop-de-loop. Harry put his feet up against the dash and braced himself, trying to keep from choking on his seat belt. Ron was flung into his truck with a groan and then back into the window shield. The tinkling sound was back. This time, Ron heard it too. Eyes wide, breathing raggedly, Ron turned over his shoulder to see a crack making its way across the windshield. And then another. And another.

"Don't…just don't move Ron." Said Harry.

Which was alright advice at first. But the constant random jolting of the car had dislodged Harry's trunk which, with a noise like dry leaves, came sliding down and into Ron's truck. This unstuck it and now loose it slides up and over the bent seat. Ron crossed him arms in front of his face at the last minute. It didn't matter. The windshield beneath shattered just as the trunk reached him and both boy and trunk fell through the open space.

Harry saw only a glimpse of his friend falling toward earth at an alarming rate. Then he was whipped away as a streak of gray green came from nowhere and wrapped around his middle then thrust his way and onto the grass four yards or so away. Harry saw the figure that was Ron in the darkness duck his oncoming trunk before the car which Harry was still very much strapped into went flying the opposite direction. This time there were no loop-de-loops and no sudden stops.

The mysterious and dangerous willow tree had grown bored with its toy and tossed it aside.

Harry shut his eyes against the stinging wind blowing through the non-existent windshield, and clung to the side of the car and his seat belt, willing the dizziness in his head to dissipate. Or the car to just stop moving. Or both.

Definitely both.

As the car steadied and Harry was able to open his eyes as more than a squint he realized the car was moving of its own volition. It was still a flying car after all, and there was no one in the driver's seat to tell it to stop. Through the empty space in front of him Harry could see trees rushing away from him and the lights of Hogwarts growing smaller in the darkness. He needed to steer the car back in the right direction.

Harry may very well have managed to do this if two very specific things hadn't happened one after the other. First, the car ran out of fuel. Harry knew this because the car decided to drop three yards causing his heart to nearly fly out of his chest. Second, the sudden drop dislodged one of Harry's feet -still firmly pushed against the dash- it slipped from the dash and hit the steering wheel. The car was sent into a spin.

Harry swore as he had never sworn in his life. Swearing was more Ron's thing. Thankfully, his red-headed friend had taught him enough to spew out a few choice words. Harry's fingers reached for the metal release on the belt frantically, eyes tearing from the stinging wind. He had to get control of the car.

The Gryffindor tugged and yanked on the belt, scraping his fingernails. It was jammed. Think Potter.

As if in answer to the call an idea popped into his head. Leaning back and angling himself Harry kicked his feet out toward the steering wheel. It was hard to do so now with the force of the car swinging wildly around. The toe of his shoe caught the steering wheel. Harry stretched and shoved his foot farther up and crossed his other leg over it and held. It pulled on his knees and legs hard and Harry nearly let go. Finally, the car stopped spinning but its velocity kept it going sideways for a bit before it began to move forward. This dramatic change in direction had an unfortunate side effect. It slowed the car too quickly. Increasing its descent.

Gulping in air Harry tried to calm himself down enough to think and think quickly.

Looking ahead Harry could see that he was much farther away from the castle then he wanted to be, far over the forbidden forest. A glimpse of reflecting moonlight alerted him to the location of the lake. On the other side of it were the Hogwarts grounds. If he could only get to the other side maybe he could land it on the grass, use the slow loping hills of the grounds to slow it down. Like Ron had planned to do.

Only without the imminent threat of an involuntary crash.

Harry pushed with his feet too aim the front of the car toward the lake. At where he was guessing it would be based on the reflections he saw. It wasn't a smooth return. It seemed to him that every few seconds the car dropped another half-meter. The trees were getting too close to fast. He tried to calculate the likelihood of survival if he crashed into the trees. Going off the last one the car ran into Harry was gonna go with not great.

It was sudden. Everything stilled, seemed suspended. Frozen. Then the car dropped, plummeted, seven meters. Trees were directly in his line of sight. And they were scratching, jolting the sides of the car. Tossing it like a ping pong ball. Or so it seemed to Harry. Just as suddenly the car broke through the trees. The lights of Hogwarts, tiny in the distance were visible for one tragically hopeful moment. The car tilted vertically wrenching the comforting sight of Hogwarts away and replacing it with the inky, almost invisible depths of the lake. Harry barely registered the change before the car's front end slammed into the lake and then bounced, flipped end over end, and plunged backward and upside into the lake.

Harry's head had smacked against the side of car pretty hard. Freezing water pouring over the sides of the up ended car, through the empty windshield space brought him back to clarity enough to flail his body and kick his legs. Harry's scream was cut off with lake water, choking him. Pressing in on him from all sides, filling the car, dragging it and Harry down into the depths and away from the surface. Painfully conscious that he was drowning Harry squeezed and pulled and hit at the release on his belt, his tears adding to the water killing him.

The latch popped off, the belt flew away from him in the force of the water and Harry found himself being whipped around with it. His body spiraled and flipped around in the water surging around the car until he couldn't remember which way was up. He twisted and tossed, at the mercy of the vicious water until he felt an upward force, too fast. He smacked head first into something very hard. His body was pushed into and around the object. That's when his leg broke the surface first.

Harry flung his arms around trying to right himself. Cold air hit his face in the brief instance it broke through. Harry gulped in air involuntarily and brought in just as much water as air and was tugged in a roll once more. Harry reached out instinctively for whatever it was he'd hit and grabbed on tight when he felt it. Harry's arms and shoulders snapped tight and pulled.

He took the moment to pull himself against the floating thing in the dark, pull himself enough to put his chin on the top of it and keep his chest out of the water. The object bobbed along but was sturdy. His trunk, Harry thought. It floats. Good to know. Freezing, exhausted, it was all Harry could to hold and, body wracked with shivers, and watch the lights of Hogwarts off in the distance. Teeth chattering, Harry turned his head to look behind him. At the shore only five yards away maybe, the bank, and the brush and the trees that came nearly to the water, all cloaked in shadow.

He was on the wrong side of the lake.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry made slow progress through the icy dark water.

Fair hands with long fingers held tightly, obsessively to the floating trunk which was used as a buoyance operated floatation device…and lifeline. Shoes kicked under the water propelling boy and trunk toward the closest shore. The one also farthest from his desired destination. It was hard to push the trunk, it wasn't easy to steer and resisted being moved. Harry's legs ached with the strain.

It wasn't until Harry's feet hit against the muddy bottom of the lake that Harry's fingers considered loosening their death grip. The wizard did not know how to swim and had no intention of giving it a go any time soon. The trunk wedged into the muddy bank. For several minutes Harry lay there, his body draped over his trunk, legs in lake, dripping water. He was exhausted.

Eventually, with a groan, Harry pushed himself wearily to his feet. He couldn't leave the trunk in the water and mud, he knew. He needed to move it further into the trees and get himself a bit of cover. This was still Forbidden Forest and Merlin knew what could be lurking around. Pulling the trunk up into the brush and the trees was harder than he'd figured on it being. It was absolutely dark and he couldn't see a thing. All the sense of direction he received was from feeling tree branches or bushes snagging on his clothes or his hair.

When his legs were close to giving out Harry called it quits.

He got flashes along the edges of his mind. Of being in the car while the water was flooding it. Of thinking he was going to die. Harry shoved them to the side forcefully. He couldn't afford to think about the right now. Not the car or the water or even Ron and the possessed tree. Right now he needed to focus on finding a place to stop for the night. The sooner he slept the sooner it'd be morning. With the morning came the sun. All he needed was the light and he was certain he'd find his way back.

He turned in a circle taking in deep breaths. Through the trees ahead of him lay the lake, he knew. It was as far as he was willing to go. Harry sat on his trunk and went through the process of pulling off his water logged shoes and his socks. He set them to the side, rolled up the legs of his jeans and curled up on top of his trunk. As soon as it was morning he'd head out toward the lake again and make his way around it. He'd be at Hogwarts tomorrow.

He'd be home.

*dw*dw*dw*dw*

Something brought him out of his sleep.

Some sound. Some instinct within him responding. Harry's eyes fluttered open. His body lay still as if still asleep. Muscle memory Harry thought it was called. He'd been quite used to such scenarios when he was younger. Listening for his relatives waking up or going to bed. Listening intently, trying to guess where they were going and whether they were heading in his direction. It wasn't his cousin Dudley's heavy footsteps that had woken him however.

The forest.

Green eyes snapped open wide. Harry's body sat up of its own accord and already he was searching through the dim early light of dawn. Eyes and ears straining for the source of his disruption. When no obvious culprit was forthcoming Harry decided it was time to go. Contrary to the reports of his large curiosity, Harry had no inclination to go out in search of the mysterious noise maker. Shivering in his bones, body anxious for a response to the unseen threat, Harry swallowed and closed his eyes briefly. Get a grip, he ordered himself.

Harry leant over his trunk, reaching down for his socks and shoes. They were damp but no longer dripping water. Good enough. Harry tugged them on and tired his laces. The rest of him was still damp as well, even his hair. But damp was almost dry and he'd get warm enough when the sun came up in another hour. Harry grinned to himself. He'd learned that from the Dursleys as well. When he'd had to tend to Aunt Petunia's garden and use the hose. It was cold at first but always dried quickly and felt pretty good when the sun was especially hot. His smile faded.

Harry was a long way from Privet Drive.

Dragging his trunk back through the trees was just as delightful as he remembered. It constantly got stuck on tree roots and rocks. The third time it caught on something Harry began to wonder if the forest had rearranged its self during his sleep just to spite him. There, the lake. Harry did not go near to it, instead he made his way along the back, circling around to the right. If he kept going this direction he would eventually get to the part of the forest he'd traversed with Hagrid during a detention the year before.

If he was lucky he would run into that friendly centaur. Maybe he would give Harry directions. Or maybe Hagrid would find him and take him back. Harry's thoughts wandered about the different ways he'd find himself safe in the castle that night. He could even wander onto the grounds and into the castle all by himself. Surprise everyone during dinner. Hermione would be furious.

Of course, he could always run into less friendly creatures.

One foot after the other Harry made his way. Stiff from the cold his muscles ached and groaned. Twenty minutes into his walk Harry heard it. A whispery creeping sound and that made him shudder involuntarily. Flashes of his previous encounter in the forest. Images of a cloaked figure bent over a unicorn… Harry was running with his trunk dragging behind him, stumbling over roots. He made his was almost blindly in the dim light into the wood searching for a place to hide. It was silly. Voldemort had left when Quirrell died, Dumbledore had told him so. But then he'd also been told there was no safer place than Hogwarts.

When his brain kicked back in and his fight or flight reflex began to fade Harry came to a stop. His chest heaved and his legs shook. His body had not been ready for that. Harry turned and sat on his trunk, collecting himself. You can't run off like a rabbit at every little sound, Harry chastised himself. It was true there were things to be wary of in the forest. Running like an idiot through the trees dragging a heavy trunk was a surefire was to alert anything menacing lurking nearby that Harry was there.

Rolling his eyes Harry tugged at his trunk and turned it around to head back. He glanced up and froze. Where was the lake? Where was it? Green eyes roamed the trees and brush surrounding him, desperately looking for something familiar. For a sign of where he'd come from. But the ground here was covered in low sturdy grass and weeds, and each tree looked the same as any other. He let go of his trunk and walked a few steps forward. No tracks from his trunk nor his shoes. No broken brush or twigs where he'd gone past. Be he had to have come from that way. Or maybe… Harry turned around. That way?

"Oh come on." Harry groaned.

He kicked at a small rock spitefully. The second year was going to be in enough trouble as it was. The longer he took more likely the trouble would increase with it. Oh and Hermione would be so very cross. Harry sighed thinking of the speech he was bound to get from McGonagal as well. He allowed himself to feel sorry for himself just a bit longer then returned to his trunk determinedly. Best to head back where he thought he'd come from and cross his fingers, really. He'd have more luck that way than just standing there anyway.

That's when the sound returned. A creeping whisper. Harry's head whipped around, eyes darting through the trees. His heart banged against his chest and the hairs of his arms rose up on end.

He was lost, but he wasn't alone.


End file.
